Oh, Siren, no. After all of that…!
When the servers came back online, we all discovered that SE had accidentally reset Besieged victories. Now, for most servers, this was no big deal. But Siren, those weirdos, they hadn't lost a single Besieged since the introduction of the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion pack. Fortunately, SE acknowledged this was a problem and managed to get things back in order! …But, well…
I said hadn't.
On Thursday, they finally lost, after nearly five straight years and 3,166 consecutive victories. Alas, it is a sad day. I am strangely disappointed.
(DUDE. We had to suffer emergency maintenance just for you and now you go and fuck it up? SHAAAAME.)
30 Days of Video Games
Day 08 - Best soundtrack.
OH FUCK YOU WHAT IS THIS QUESTION AAAAAAAA
/RAGEQUIT
…Aaactually. I lied! Lessee. I'm kind of a soundtrack junkie, and, man, some video games just have amazing soundtracks. Some are just pretty (the Ecco games), some provide really excellent atmosphere (Silent Hill, Shadow of the Colossus), and some are just all around amazing. And because I'm a hopeless addict, I feel most of Square's older stuff fits that really well! I haven't been as impressed with all of their newer stuff, sadly. I really adored XIII's, but, man, I can barely recall anything from XII's. And it's not some whole WAAAAH NO MORE NOBUO UEMATSU (even though the man is some kind of musical genius) thing, because they've had goddamn amazing game soundtracks composed by other people (Chrono Cross, for example! And the original tracks from the Kingdom Hearts games are also pretty excellent).
But, and this'll probably not be surprising, if you think about it for a moment (though it took me a lot longer than that to come up with this answer, and it is actually a bit painful to pick just one - PLEASE FORGIVE ME, FINAL FANTASY VII AND VIII, YOU WILL PROBABLY ALWAYS BE MY MOST-PLAYED SOUNDTRACKS), I'm going to have to pick Final Fantasy XI's. Which, I mean. It's not the best, I am well aware of that. But I have lived with the soundtrack to the game for …coming on seven years now. I have so many memories and experiences associated with so many of the tracks from that game, that even though rationally I know there are better soundtracks out there, it's probably the one closest to me. So, to me, I guess it is the best, for one definition of "best"...
Some examples: Ronfaure is all comfortable and familiar and nostalgia-inducing, and I always feel like, yay! Almost home! every time I hear it. Tough Battle (and 2, though the original more so) (I NEVER SAID THE SONG TITLES WERE CLEVER) makes me jittery. I can't actually pin down wtf it is about the Vana'diel March but it is absolutely one of my favourite tracks ever. And Memoro de la Ŝtono, oh, my gosh, I'm not entirely sure what it is about that song, either, but maaaan. It gives me chills and actually kind of makes me tear up a little (I HAVE SAID AS MUCH BEFORE). …Also it pisses me off - like, really irrationally so - that the Distant Worlds version cuts the last verse out (THE LAST VERSE IS IMPORTANT) to make it flow into "Distant Worlds" (ALSO AMAZING. It must be amazing, there's a whole concert series named after it!) better. It is such a damn shame, because I prefer Susan Calloway's performance over … whoever does the one in-game, haha, I can't find her name right away and I'm lazy.
And that is not even touching the expansion pack soundtracks (well, aside from "Distant Worlds", briefly), which I could go on and on and on about. BUT I WON'T. … This time.
… BUT I WILL MENTION THE AWESOME REMIXES.
There are only three up on OC Remix (SO FAR), but guess what they all have in common?
THAT'S RIGHT, IT IS "AWESOMENESS" GOOD JOB.
Linking to YouTube for listening purposes, and 'cause the description links to the page on their site, where you can download it!
While San d'Oria Sleeps is a remix of San d'Oria's theme! I grew up in San d'Oria! I am one of the only three people who have never found the bagpipes annoying! (haha, the two songs are so different, it is definitely a great "nighttime in San d'Oria" song!)
Battling Despair at Dawn is omgawesome. Definitely my favourite of the three, but that may be because I have some an intense, confusing adoration of Memoro de la Ŝtono and all its variations ("Despair" being the song in question this time, mixed with Battle in the Dungeon #2)? But even ignoring that, this is a really excellent remix. IT IS POWERFUL AND MOTIVATING AND YOU FEEL PRETTY AWESOME WHEN IT COMES UP ON YOUR MP3 PLAYER WHILE YOU ARE SPEEDWALKING YOUR WAY TO WORK
A Cinematic Heaven (a remix of Heaven's Tower, which is a place in the Federation of Windurst) is definitely the prettiest one, though. I mean, I really like the original song, too, but, man. *_* If I did not love "Battling Despair at Dawn" so damn much, this would easily take the top of my "favourite remixes" list.
Then there is this pretty version of Ronfaure with vocals! (Here is another, also pretty, version of the same arrangement.)
And then there is everything DJplaeskool has done.
… ACTUALLY, since some of it is hard to find, I offer to you here a .zip file (or, rather, two of 'em) of most all my FFXI remixes. At least one of those I am not sure you can find anywhere anymore, since I pulled if off the Allakhazam forums and the post is long disappeared. (Also, I only just got the Tom Pelts stuff, so I cannot give much of an opinion on those, though I will add WHOO MORE VERSIONS OF RONFAURE. I MUST HAVE THEM AAAALL. Honest to god, off the top of my head, I have at least 10 different versions.) (Also, shhh, technically the Star Onions stuff qualifies as a fan remix!)
I was going to add an "Honorary Mentions" bit here, but then the list was growing to include almost every game I've ever played and I realized it was maybe getting ridiculous and cut it out.
…Shit, I don't think I've checked my Moogle mail in Dissidia 012 yet today. IT IS ALMOST MIDNIGHT RUN RUN. (haha, what a random thing to suddenly remember.)
Edit:
AWESOME AND TERRIFYING. ... if you're a Doctor Who fan, anyway.
Also, uninteresting note: in the live version of this song that I have heard, the "witness" verse lists things in a slightly different order than the game version. OR MAYBE SHE MESSED UP, haha, who knows. It is strange to my ears, though.
["(we) follow (we) wander (we) suffer (we) listen" vs. "(we) follow (we) struggle (we) wander (we) listen" ... and suffer is already used once, before, so, yeah, I don't know.]
(Another uninteresting note relating to the same song is that, whenever I "play" it in my head, in some places the tempo is way slower and the rests are longer. I know it is wrong, but I guess I must prefer it that way, or something. Again, I DON'T KNOW.)
I said hadn't.
On Thursday, they finally lost, after nearly five straight years and 3,166 consecutive victories. Alas, it is a sad day. I am strangely disappointed.
(DUDE. We had to suffer emergency maintenance just for you and now you go and fuck it up? SHAAAAME.)
30 Days of Video Games
Day 08 - Best soundtrack.
OH FUCK YOU WHAT IS THIS QUESTION AAAAAAAA
/RAGEQUIT
…Aaactually. I lied! Lessee. I'm kind of a soundtrack junkie, and, man, some video games just have amazing soundtracks. Some are just pretty (the Ecco games), some provide really excellent atmosphere (Silent Hill, Shadow of the Colossus), and some are just all around amazing. And because I'm a hopeless addict, I feel most of Square's older stuff fits that really well! I haven't been as impressed with all of their newer stuff, sadly. I really adored XIII's, but, man, I can barely recall anything from XII's. And it's not some whole WAAAAH NO MORE NOBUO UEMATSU (even though the man is some kind of musical genius) thing, because they've had goddamn amazing game soundtracks composed by other people (Chrono Cross, for example! And the original tracks from the Kingdom Hearts games are also pretty excellent).
But, and this'll probably not be surprising, if you think about it for a moment (though it took me a lot longer than that to come up with this answer, and it is actually a bit painful to pick just one - PLEASE FORGIVE ME, FINAL FANTASY VII AND VIII, YOU WILL PROBABLY ALWAYS BE MY MOST-PLAYED SOUNDTRACKS), I'm going to have to pick Final Fantasy XI's. Which, I mean. It's not the best, I am well aware of that. But I have lived with the soundtrack to the game for …coming on seven years now. I have so many memories and experiences associated with so many of the tracks from that game, that even though rationally I know there are better soundtracks out there, it's probably the one closest to me. So, to me, I guess it is the best, for one definition of "best"...
Some examples: Ronfaure is all comfortable and familiar and nostalgia-inducing, and I always feel like, yay! Almost home! every time I hear it. Tough Battle (and 2, though the original more so) (I NEVER SAID THE SONG TITLES WERE CLEVER) makes me jittery. I can't actually pin down wtf it is about the Vana'diel March but it is absolutely one of my favourite tracks ever. And Memoro de la Ŝtono, oh, my gosh, I'm not entirely sure what it is about that song, either, but maaaan. It gives me chills and actually kind of makes me tear up a little (I HAVE SAID AS MUCH BEFORE). …Also it pisses me off - like, really irrationally so - that the Distant Worlds version cuts the last verse out (THE LAST VERSE IS IMPORTANT) to make it flow into "Distant Worlds" (ALSO AMAZING. It must be amazing, there's a whole concert series named after it!) better. It is such a damn shame, because I prefer Susan Calloway's performance over … whoever does the one in-game, haha, I can't find her name right away and I'm lazy.
And that is not even touching the expansion pack soundtracks (well, aside from "Distant Worlds", briefly), which I could go on and on and on about. BUT I WON'T. … This time.
… BUT I WILL MENTION THE AWESOME REMIXES.
There are only three up on OC Remix (SO FAR), but guess what they all have in common?
THAT'S RIGHT, IT IS "AWESOMENESS" GOOD JOB.
Linking to YouTube for listening purposes, and 'cause the description links to the page on their site, where you can download it!
While San d'Oria Sleeps is a remix of San d'Oria's theme! I grew up in San d'Oria! I am one of the only three people who have never found the bagpipes annoying! (haha, the two songs are so different, it is definitely a great "nighttime in San d'Oria" song!)
Battling Despair at Dawn is omgawesome. Definitely my favourite of the three, but that may be because I have some an intense, confusing adoration of Memoro de la Ŝtono and all its variations ("Despair" being the song in question this time, mixed with Battle in the Dungeon #2)? But even ignoring that, this is a really excellent remix. IT IS POWERFUL AND MOTIVATING AND YOU FEEL PRETTY AWESOME WHEN IT COMES UP ON YOUR MP3 PLAYER WHILE YOU ARE SPEEDWALKING YOUR WAY TO WORK
A Cinematic Heaven (a remix of Heaven's Tower, which is a place in the Federation of Windurst) is definitely the prettiest one, though. I mean, I really like the original song, too, but, man. *_* If I did not love "Battling Despair at Dawn" so damn much, this would easily take the top of my "favourite remixes" list.
Then there is this pretty version of Ronfaure with vocals! (Here is another, also pretty, version of the same arrangement.)
And then there is everything DJplaeskool has done.
… ACTUALLY, since some of it is hard to find, I offer to you here a .zip file (or, rather, two of 'em) of most all my FFXI remixes. At least one of those I am not sure you can find anywhere anymore, since I pulled if off the Allakhazam forums and the post is long disappeared. (Also, I only just got the Tom Pelts stuff, so I cannot give much of an opinion on those, though I will add WHOO MORE VERSIONS OF RONFAURE. I MUST HAVE THEM AAAALL. Honest to god, off the top of my head, I have at least 10 different versions.) (Also, shhh, technically the Star Onions stuff qualifies as a fan remix!)
I was going to add an "Honorary Mentions" bit here, but then the list was growing to include almost every game I've ever played and I realized it was maybe getting ridiculous and cut it out.
…Shit, I don't think I've checked my Moogle mail in Dissidia 012 yet today. IT IS ALMOST MIDNIGHT RUN RUN. (haha, what a random thing to suddenly remember.)
Edit:
AWESOME AND TERRIFYING. ... if you're a Doctor Who fan, anyway.
Also, uninteresting note: in the live version of this song that I have heard, the "witness" verse lists things in a slightly different order than the game version. OR MAYBE SHE MESSED UP, haha, who knows. It is strange to my ears, though.
["(we) follow (we) wander (we) suffer (we) listen" vs. "(we) follow (we) struggle (we) wander (we) listen" ... and suffer is already used once, before, so, yeah, I don't know.]
(Another uninteresting note relating to the same song is that, whenever I "play" it in my head, in some places the tempo is way slower and the rests are longer. I know it is wrong, but I guess I must prefer it that way, or something. Again, I DON'T KNOW.)